Daily Sabah logo

Politics
Diplomacy Legislation War On Terror EU Affairs Elections News Analysis
TÜRKİYE
Istanbul Education Investigations Minorities Expat Corner Diaspora
World
Mid-East Europe Americas Asia Pacific Africa Syrian Crisis Islamophobia
Business
Automotive Economy Energy Finance Tourism Tech Defense Transportation News Analysis
Lifestyle
Health Environment Travel Food Fashion Science Religion History Feature Expat Corner
Arts
Cinema Music Events Portrait Reviews Performing Arts
Sports
Football Basketball Motorsports Tennis
Opinion
Columns Op-Ed Reader's Corner Editorial
PHOTO GALLERY
JOBS ABOUT US RSS PRIVACY CONTACT US
© Turkuvaz Haberleşme ve Yayıncılık 2023

Daily Sabah logo

عربي
  • Politics
    • Diplomacy
    • Legislation
    • War On Terror
    • EU Affairs
    • Elections
    • News Analysis
  • TÜRKİYE
    • Istanbul
    • Education
    • Investigations
    • Minorities
    • Expat Corner
    • Diaspora
  • World
    • Mid-East
    • Europe
    • Americas
    • Asia Pacific
    • Africa
    • Syrian Crisis
    • Islamophobia
  • Business
    • Automotive
    • Economy
    • Energy
    • Finance
    • Tourism
    • Tech
    • Defense
    • Transportation
    • News Analysis
  • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Environment
    • Travel
    • Food
    • Fashion
    • Science
    • Religion
    • History
    • Feature
    • Expat Corner
  • Arts
    • Cinema
    • Music
    • Events
    • Portrait
    • Reviews
    • Performing Arts
  • Sports
    • Football
    • Basketball
    • Motorsports
    • Tennis
  • Gallery
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Op-Ed
    • Reader's Corner
    • Editorial
  • TV
  • Opinion
  • Columns
  • Op-Ed
  • Reader's Corner
  • Editorial

Erdoğan’s new book: A revolutionary reform proposal

by Burhanettin Duran

Sep 08, 2021 - 12:05 am GMT+3
The cover of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's new book, titled "A Fairer World is Possible: A Model Proposal for United Nations Reform" in English, Sept. 5, 2021. (DHA Photo)
The cover of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's new book, titled "A Fairer World is Possible: A Model Proposal for United Nations Reform" in English, Sept. 5, 2021. (DHA Photo)
by Burhanettin Duran Sep 08, 2021 12:05 am

President Erdoğan has introduced a new reform proposal for the U.N. He repeated that the decisions concerning the whole world should not be left to five countries, as he has said without hesitation for years, and stated that he expected concrete steps from the U.N. to keep the world from being dragged into a new world war

RECOMMENDED
 Heads of the six opposition parties making up the "table for six" arrive to present their program, in Ankara, Türkiye, Jan. 30, 2023. (AFP Photo)

Turkish opposition's road map: Still a coalition text

Turkish-Politics

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan proposed a "revolutionary United Nations reform" before the 76th U.N. General Assembly. With the book titled "A Fairer World is Possible: A Model Proposal for United Nations Reform" published by Turkuvaz Kitap, he embodied the discourse of "The world is bigger than five."

Erdoğan is a leader that has for years said the fate of the world "cannot be handed over to the greed, interests and whims of the five members of the Security Council." He voices his opinion on every platform, including the U.N. General Assembly and leader meetings, regardless of who is offended.

Now, with this new book, Erdoğan tells that a new world has been born in the post-coronavirus era. He points out that this new world is "multipolar," but there is no guarantee that multipolarity will bring peace, security and stability. On the contrary, it informs that the world is in a place similar to before the great wars and that disaster will come if there is no joint action.

Erdoğan emphasizes that problems such as pandemics, irregular migration, terrorism, climate change, hunger, drought, injustice, failed states, civil wars, tensions between states, rising racism, populism and protectionism threaten all humanity. The solution proposed is to "establish global justice," that is, to "build a fairer global governance architecture." The way to do this is to make a "just and revolutionary reform" in the U.N. system that does not meet current needs.

Different from other proposals

Proposals for U.N. reform are not new to the world community. Discussed in the 1990s and 2000s, these recommendations focused on secondary issues. Countries such as Germany, Japan, Brazil and India handled the issue through their own memberships. And of course, these reform proposals fell through due to the reluctance of the five permanent members. The resolutions of the General Assembly were often ignored.

The most recent of such situations, which weakened the legitimacy of the U.N. system, was in 2018 when the United States decided to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Although this resolution was condemned by 128 votes to 9 in the General Assembly, the U.S. did not care.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan speaks during the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York, U.S., Sept. 23, 2019. (Getty Images)
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan speaks during the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York, U.S., Sept. 23, 2019. (Getty Images)

Reviving the reform debate, Erdoğan is aware of the U.N.'s legitimacy problem and fraying. However, he does not give up hope on the U.N. as an institution where "effective multilateralism" can be operated. Instead of "starting with the narrow interests of the countries" for reform, he focuses on "general principles": The doctrine of justice, equality, fairness in representation, transparency, accountability and preventiveness. And he proposes a model based on these principles to make the General Assembly a legislator and the Security Council an executive.

Concrete Recommendations

The first thing to do for this democratic revolution is to create an agenda centered on removing the veto power. To date, 249 out of 2,446 resolutions have been vetoed by the Security Council. Russia vetoed 112, the U.S. 81, the U.K. 29, France 16 and China 11 bills. However, no model proposal that has been discussed under the umbrella of the U.N. so far has taken up the abolition of this problematic veto power.

Erdoğan thinks that 130 countries coming together in the General Assembly and deciding to abolish the veto power will create a moral ground. He calculates that the "Unity for Consensus" group can pass such a decision. He argues that the Security Council could veto this resolution, but that would have moral, political and diplomatic consequences.

Other elements of Erdoğan's proposal are as follows: increasing the powers of the General Assembly, reducing the powers of the Security Council to give account to the General Assembly and electing 20 permanent members to the Security Council from the General Assembly instead of five.

Erdoğan's U.N. reform proposal that puts justice at the center opens the future of the global order for discussion. It calls for justice, not opposition. It not only rings alarm bells but also proposes concrete solutions so that humanity is not dragged into a new war. Erdoğan will likely share this proposal with world leaders at the U.N. two weeks from now.

About the author
Burhanettin Duran is General Coordinator of SETA Foundation and a professor at Social Sciences University of Ankara. He is also a member of Turkish Presidency Security and Foreign Policies Council.
RECOMMENDED
 Heads of the six opposition parties making up the "table for six" arrive to present their program, in Ankara, Türkiye, Jan. 30, 2023. (AFP Photo)

Turkish opposition's road map: Still a coalition text

Turkish-Politics
  • shortlink copied
  • RELATED TOPICS
    fight-against-terrorism DEUTSCHE-BANK US-LIBYA-RELATIONS
    KEYWORDS
    recep tayyip erdoğan united nations reform
    The Daily Sabah Newsletter
    Keep up to date with what’s happening in Turkey, it’s region and the world.
    You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
    Far-right extremist Rasmus Paludan rants before burning the Quran, in Copenhagen, Denmark, Jan. 27, 2023. (AP Photo)

    Norway cancels Quran burning after reaction from Türkiye

    QURAN-BURNING
    A screengrab from a video shows Hürjet in an undisclosed location, Feb. 2, 2023.

    'Time to fly': Türkiye unveils domestic light attack jet

    HÜRJET

    Türkiye summons envoys of 9 countries to express dismay over closure

    TURKIYE-EUROPE-RELATIONS

    Türkiye angered over 'intentional' closure of foreign missions

    türkiye-eu-relations
    No Image
    Türkiye's northwestern Tekirdağ awakes to stunning red sky
    PHOTOGALLERY
    • POLITICS
    • Diplomacy
    • Legislation
    • War On Terror
    • EU Affairs
    • News Analysis
    • TÜRKİYE
    • Istanbul
    • Education
    • Investigations
    • Minorities
    • Diaspora
    • World
    • Mid-East
    • Europe
    • Americas
    • Asia Pacific
    • Africa
    • Syrian Crisis
    • İslamophobia
    • Business
    • Automotive
    • Economy
    • Energy
    • Finance
    • Tourism
    • Tech
    • Defense
    • Transportation
    • News Analysis
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Environment
    • Travel
    • Food
    • Fashion
    • Science
    • Religion
    • History
    • Feature
    • Expat Corner
    • Arts
    • Cinema
    • Music
    • Events
    • Portrait
    • Performing Arts
    • Reviews
    • Sports
    • Football
    • Basketball
    • Motorsports
    • Tennis
    • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Op-Ed
    • Reader's Corner
    • Editorial
    • Photo gallery
    • Jobs
    • privacy
    • about us
    • contact us
    • RSS
    © Turkuvaz Haberleşme ve Yayıncılık 2021